An Attitude of Gratitude Increases Your Altitude
While November has usually been proclaimed the National Month of Gratitude because of our thankful attitudes, I think gratitude should be a daily exercise. I think everyone needs to take their Gratitude statements to a next level.
Documenting Daily Gratitude
Cultivating an “attitude of gratitude” has been linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long-term satisfaction with life and kinder behavior toward others, including romantic partners. A study shows that feeling grateful makes people less likely to turn aggressive when provoked..”
I love that everyone is using the month of November to document their daily feelings of gratitude, but I’m a proponent of keeping a written list handy and at your fingertips every month. Those written words on paper are much easier to grab and read when you are having one of those “slump” days and need a reminder.
I remember when my Mom had her stroke we were documenting a daily list of her accomplishments. She had to have facial surgery to correct a fracture in her eye socket so even the day when she could open her eyelid was a huge day of gratitude. That list helped us during her extended recovery to see where she had come from and to reminisce about how huge our heart was with gratitude.
You don’t have to have to some type of catastrophic event in your life to appreciate and use a chart or journal of your list of gratitude statements. Using the list even on “bad days” to ground you to things that are really important can be very useful.
My gift to you is a little journal/chart that I use to keep my list. I hope you enjoy (and USE) this or some other way to keep a list. Please click here to download your An Attitude of Gratitude Increases Your Altitude Gratitude Chart
It’s fairly simple.
- A place to write your gratitude thought each day for 28 days.
- A place to put a date
As I said before, I think it’s very important to keep a copy of your gratitude list. While posting it on Facebook is fun, it won’t be as easy to refer back to your list a few months or years from now when you need a memory jogger.
Have fun with your An Attitude of Gratitude Increases Your Altitude Gratitude Chart!!
Until next time..
Hugs and feathers from the nest~~()~~
Kim Steadman is the COOP (Chief Online Operating Person) for The Re-Feathered Nest. A place of encouragement for moms entering the Empty Nest Zone who find they need to RePurpose and ReDesign their lives now that the kids have flown the coop. Kim can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheRefeatheredNest and on Google+ at +Kim.
10 Comments
Paul B. Taubman, II
Nicely stated, Kim!
With Thanksgiving in November, is really is Gratitude Month! I hope that people ‘stay in the mood’ in December and carry it into January, then February, then March…
I wrote a similar post over at:
http://allaboutgratitude.com/blog/6438/november-happy-gratitude-month/
When you have an Attitude of Gratitude, everything changes! Gratitude and Anger cannot exist at the same time within one person. It is all about choices!
Thanks for sharing!
Be Well.
Paul.
Kristen from The Road to Domestication
Now, this is a great idea! I like knowing that I have everything written down in one place!
Erin
I love this Kim! I am going to try it with my children. I hate when I hear them complain, but I realize it is only because they’ve heard me do the same 😉
Ree
Kim,
I try to live a life of gratitude. I think it is why I am a joyful person. I often thought the lack of gratitude is why so many celebrities are so messed up. How can you be messed up if you are always thankful for what you have?!
Stephanie LH Calahan
Lovely post. I practice gratitude a number of different ways. My family creates what we call a “golden list” every day. It’s a list of the top 10 things that we are happy happened that day. It’s a fun way for the family to communicate together. I also do simple things like every time someone shares, RT’s, comments, likes, etc. on any of my social media platforms, I’ll say a prayer of gratitude for that person. I’m glad they’re in my life! And I want to make sure that I recognize them every time. When I take my dog for a walk, I count the number of things that I see that make me smile. Love your idea of tracking in a journal too. Thanks for sharing.
kimsteadman
Hi Stephanie…I LOVE your method of gratitude in the social media platforms. Such a beautiful idea! Thanks for stopping by!
kimsteadman
HI Ree!! Your are SO right. Gratitude leads to joyful. That’s why it’s so easy to change sour attitudes if we can just get folks to practicing the art of gratitude.
kimsteadman
Gratitude for kids. I’ll have to share an idea we used when our big ‘un was a little one. Thanks for stopping by!
kimsteadman
I’m glad you liked it Kristen!
kimsteadman
Great minds think alike, huh Paul! Thanks for stopping by!